Whitney Houston鈥檚 voice was one of a kind and the of the singer had no choice but to agree.
Naomi Ackie, who plays Houston in turns in a fierce performance but is asked to lip-sync throughout to Houston biggest hits. The effect is, at best, an expensive karaoke session.
The dilemma that Houston鈥檚 own prodigious gift put everyone in is understandable: The chances of finding someone who resembles the singer is hard enough; finding someone who also has the awe-inducing, fluttery vocal ability is a fool鈥檚 errand.
But the solution would have been choosing between focusing on Houston鈥檚 story or making a documentary that features her singing. It鈥檚 unfair to ask Ackie to act her heart out and also have her execute large parts of Houston鈥檚 iconic live performances in mimic mode. It鈥檚 an uncanny canyon.
The movie is written by Anthony McCarten, who told Freddie Mercury鈥檚 story in 鈥淏ohemian Rhapsody鈥� and is having quite a moment with two shows on Broadway 鈥� 鈥淭he Collaboration鈥� about artists Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat a musical about Neil Diamond. McCarten clearly has impressed producers with an ability to tell the stories of modern icons but with Houston the hook is, well, business pressure.
鈥淚 Wanna Dance With Somebody鈥� is more like a hyped-up 鈥淏ehind the Music鈥� episode set to Houston鈥檚 greatest hits album. It leans on all the cliches: overbearing parents, bad-boy boyfriends and giddy, champagne-popping montages on the way up and sullen montages on the way down as she鈥檚 hunted by paparazzi.
Houston is portrayed as a woman who seizes her destiny only late in her cut-short life after struggling with the burden of being the family breadwinner for most of it.
鈥淓veryone is using me as an ATM!鈥� she screams at one point.
Stanley Tucci plays a subdued and concerned Clive Davis 鈥� the record executive helped produce the film and comes off like a prince 鈥� and Nafessa Williams is superb as Houston鈥檚 best friend, manager and lover.
McCarten frames the climax of Houston鈥檚 life at the 1994 American Music Awards, where she won eight awards and performed a medley of songs. It is where camera starts and ends, part of an excruciating final section goodbye to the icon that lasts for what feels like an hour and ends with a heavy-handed, written statement that Houston was the 鈥済reatest voice of her generation.鈥�
Credit to the Houston estate for not sanitizing Houston鈥檚 life, showing her early love affair with a woman, her pushy, demanding parents, the backlash from some in the Black community and not shying away from the descent into drugs that
鈥淭o sing with the gods, you sometimes need a ladder,鈥� Houston rationalizes in the movie.
Some highlights of the film include Houston and Davis picking hit songs in his office and the recreations of the filming of the video 鈥淗ow Will I Know鈥� and Houston鈥檚 triumphant national anthem performance at Super Bowl XXV. Costume designer Charlese Antoinette Jones has joyously remade key looks, from Houston鈥檚 hair bow and arm warmers to the stunning wedding dress with beaded and sequined cloche hat.
Less well-realized is the section exploring her filming of 鈥淭he Bodyguard鈥� 鈥� the filmmakers try to pass off an old clip of Kevin Costner on the set, a trick they try again later with Oprah 鈥� and the portrayal of husband Bobby Brown is not nuanced, leaving him the clear villain of the piece. Lemmons (鈥淗arriet鈥�) also uses a recurring image of a faucet dripping, a graceless way of foreshadowing her death.
Ackie鈥檚 performance is something to be cheered, reaching for the the kind of authenticity that Andra Day channeled when she also tackled a doomed musical icon in
But so much clumsiness, scenes featuring unnaturally heightened drama with little insight and the compromised authenticity of the performances drag 鈥淚 Wanna Dance With Somebody鈥� down 鈥� ultimately, it鈥檚 not right but it鈥檚 just OK.
鈥淚 Wanna Dance With Somebody,鈥� a Sony Pictures release exclusively in theaters Dec. 23, is rated PG-13 for 鈥渟trong drug content, some strong language, suggestive references and smoking.鈥� Running time: 146 minutes. Two stars out of four.
MPAA Definition of PG-13: Parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.
鈥擬ark Kennedy, The Associated Press
